The Wake of War

The influential theological ethicist H. Richard Niebuhr taught that before asking “What shall I do?” we ought to ask “What is going on?” This informative and disquieting book by award-winning French journalist Anne Nivat addresses this crucial question by conveying what is happening in the lives of the Afghan and Iraqi people, who continue to struggle for security and hope in the wake of the U.S. military actions in their countries.

Nivat provides us with a fine example of immersion journalism and deftly brings out the human face of “the other.” Instead of being embedded with the occupying troops, Nivat spent 12 weeks in each country in remote villages as well as major cities, traveling by taxi, dressing like the ordinary people (even sometimes wearing a burka), and being welcomed into their homes for meals and conversation.